She and Her Cat is a collection of Japanese short stories centred around the power of connection one can have with their pets. In classic Japanese style, it evokes a slice-of-life feeling. While reading this book, I felt as if I could be any one of the women at the centre ofthe story, each of them battling familiar issues of loneliness, mental illness and grief. While I thought this might be a sad read to begin with, the presence of the cats in each story brings hope and comfort.

The cats are definitely the stand-out characters here. One particular highlight is Mimi, the bashful but feisty stray, who forms a bond with an aspiring painter.

She and Her Cat doesn’t try to tell a whole story from beginning to end. Instead, it asks the reader to exist in transient moments, and in doing so, allows readers to consume the storymore as a stream of consciousness. The experience can be odd to read at first, but for me, I found it very Zen. Combined with gorgeous illustrations at the beginningof each story, She and Her Cat is a highly enjoyable short-story collection which I gladly have added to my growing shelf of translated fiction.

Alexandra Gleihs is from Readings State Library.